[Infographic] The Benefits Of Social Selling

Social media platforms provide plenty of ways to increase sales potential. Twitter and Facebook are set to introduce “buy” buttons in the near future, and plenty of people have been able to start small businesses by posting products like gently used clothes to Instagram and Pinterest.

An impressive 70% of adults who use the internet in the U.S. use some form of social media to network online and share information, which means that social media has huge potential for reaching customers. But social media doesn’t just help large businesses and entrepreneurs. It can also significantly help individual sales reps.

Forbes reports that 78% of salespeople who use social media outsell their peers who don’t. This is largely because leads are also easier to track down and turn into sales on social media. Over half of the social media-savvy salespeople who responded to a Social Media and Sales Quota Survey said that they could track at least one closed sale back to social media.

The lead-generating potential that comes from sites like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn is largely due to the information that can be accessed by a seller. For instance, an industrious salesperson could take a customer complaint on Twitter and turn it into a sale just by tracking their own hashtags and mentions. They could also check a rival’s hashtags and mentions for complaints about that company, and jump into the conversation quickly to offer an alternative.

Social media actually had a 100% higher lead-to-close rate than outbound marketing, making it ideal for salespeople who want to attract repeat customers. Bringing in repeat customers costs five to seven times less than it does to bring in new ones, and social media can be used to share content with existing customers in a non-intrusive and natural way.

Online reviews can also be a great way to influence sales. Online reputation is extremely important, especially since 80-95% of buyer decisions are now influenced by online reviews. Though salespeople can’t always shape reviews, they can use social media to project a positive company image.

Approximately 80% of social network users in the U.S. prefer connecting to brands they like through Facebook, so that’s a good place to start. Experiment and find out what platforms bring you the most sales!

Rhys Metler

Rhys is a tenacious, top performing Senior Sales Recruiter with 11+ years of focused experience in the Digital Media, Mobile, Software, Technology and B2B verticals. He has a successful track record of headhunting top performing sales candidates for some of the most exciting brands in North America. He is a Certified Recruitment Specialist (CRS) and has expert experience in prospecting new business, client retention/renewals and managing top performing sales and recruitment teams. Rhys enjoys spending quality time with his wife, son, and two daughters, BBQing on a hot summer day, tropical vacations and cottaging.